Why Are So Many Dolphins Beaching Themselves?

From New England to Peru, an unprecedented number of dolphins have been beaching themselves in recent weeks, and experts are grappling as to why.

On Cape Cod alone, 177 short-beaked common dolphins have stranded and 124 have died, according to an Associated Press report. The report goes on to say that the total is nearly five times the average of 37 common dolphins that have stranded annually there during the last 12 years.

More than 200 dolphins have washed up dead on the beaches of Chiclayo, Peru, according to The Blaze. In that case, dead anchovies were also found. Since these small fish are prey, the dolphins may have become ill as a result of eating them, but the deaths remain a mystery.

Read on:  http://www.livescience.com/18520-stranded-common-dolphins-mystery.html

Peru's vanishing fish stocks 'devastated' by corruption and growing fishmeal demand

Soaring global demand for fishmeal primarily for animal feed or fish farms, including salmon, is wrecking havoc on the once abundant fish stocks of the southern Pacific

The fish stocks of the southern Pacific and in particular Peru are being plundered by widespread cheating and overfishing, according to a new investigation.

Peru is the world’s second largest fishing nation after China, with the majority of its catch converted into fishmeal, a feed for farmed fish and pigs. More than a million tons a year exported mostly to Asia, in a trade worth $1.6 billion.

Read more:  http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/1218644/perus_vanishing_fish_stocks_devastated_by_corruption_and_growing_fishmeal_demand.html

Tiny fossil teeth re-write rodent record

The oldest rodent fossils yet found in South America have been unearthed along the Ucayali River near Contamana, Peru.

The specimens comprise the tiny teeth of mouse-sized and rat-sized animals that lived at least 41 million years ago.

This makes the fossils some 10 million years older than all previous rodent discoveries made on the continent.

An international team of scientists reports the remains in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B.

The researchers describe how the shape of the teeth and other factors point to the ancient animals being most closely related to African rodents.

"As palaeontologists, we're interested in how animals are related to each other, and we do what are called 'phylogenetic analyses'," explained co-author Darin Croft, an anatomy professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, US.

"We did those analyses for our animals and they are very close in the evolutionary tree to African rodents, which suggests that that's where their ancestors came from - from Africa," he told BBC News.

Tiny teeth
Dr Croft and colleagues had to use microscopes to study the teeth, so small were some of them.

Features seen in the dentition suggest the animals probably ate soft seeds and plant parts, just like many small rodents do today.
Read on...
By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15268643

New species abound in Peru, but so do threats

By Roberto Cortijo (AFP)


LIMA — Each year, a new bird is found and every four years a new mammal discovered in the Peruvian Amazon, a haven for biodiversity where conservation and danger often go hand in hand.

Although Peru is known for its Andes mountain range, the Amazon actually covers 60 percent of the country's territory. It is a hotbed of bio-activity and is home to 25,000 species of plants -- 10 percent of the world's stock.

Thanks to the Amazon, Peru has the world's second-largest bird population (1,800 species) and is among the top five countries for mammals (515 species) and reptiles (418 species).

This year alone, scientists stumbled upon a previously unknown leech and a new type of mosquito.

The animal population has grown in recent years, namely adding a mini poison dart frog with a fire-red head and blue legs (Ranitomeya amazonica), a purple-throated Sunangel hummingbird (Heliangelus viola) and a "tyrannosaurus leech" with eight teeth (Tyrannobdella reina).

More than 1,200 new species of plants or animals have been discovered in 10 years in the Amazon, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature. But paradoxically, the novel species are often discovered during the very activities that threaten the Amazon the most.

"Most of these discoveries don't happen during scientific expeditions, which are often costly. They most often come when workers are digging exploration sites for oil, mining or lumber companies," said WWF Peru's Amazon program director Michael Valqui.

"This type of discovery is also simultaneously endangering the species that is being discovered in its one and only habitat."

Peru, home to one of the biggest forest lands -- 700,000 square kilometers (270,270 square miles) -- is also a magnet for resource extraction.

The number of concessions granted has doubled since 2006 to cover 16 percent of the territory, according to the Observatory of Mining Conflicts in Latin America.

At the same time, Peru boasts of being on the cutting edge of conservation, with 15 percent of its territory under protected status.

"And we're aiming for 30 percent," said Environment Minister Antonio Brack.

Environmentalists, though, worry about the future of biodiversity and the species living outside these protected zones.

"There are no clear signals as to what the country intends to do to protect biodiversity," said Ivan Lanegra, representative of the influential government-funded Peruvian ombudsman office.

Gerard Herail of France's IRD research and development institute in Lima noted that "a mining or hydrocarbons firm is not innately destructive. The key is whether or not it is 'clean'," or uses cleaner methods and technologies.

More species are disappearing than are being discovered around the world, noted Ernesto Raez, who heads the Sustainable Development Center at Cayetano Heredia University in Lima.

"In other words, species are disappearing before we discover them," he added.

But the IRD says the very context of their disappearance allows the group to "develop biodiversity conservation strategies," such as those deployed successfully for the huge arapaima or paiche fish (Arapaima gigas), one of the largest freshwater fish in the world.

Twenty-one species remain in "critical danger" of extinction in Peru, according to 2004 numbers, including the short-tailed chinchilla (Chinchilla brevicaudata) and the sharp-eared bat (Tompoeas ravus). The leaf-eared mouse (phyllotis andinum) is believed to have already disappeared.

The Lima gecko (Phyllodactylus sentosus), a minuscule nocturnal lizard also in critical danger, illustrates the sometimes complex relationship between threat and conservation.

The gecko finds its habitat in the darkest corners of the huacas, pre-Hispanic burial grounds or ritual sites that dot Lima and the coast.

"But archeologists' maintenance work, crucial for conservation, is exactly what's destroying the gecko's habitat" and triggering its downfall, said Valqui.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g_3zOtgQRjjeXOrm-Ds2PlylB39Q?docId=CNG.081ed8ef951580bf2ea69716935b211d.441

New species abound in Peru, but so do threats

By Roberto Cortijo (AFP)


LIMA — Each year, a new bird is found and every four years a new mammal discovered in the Peruvian Amazon, a haven for biodiversity where conservation and danger often go hand in hand.

Although Peru is known for its Andes mountain range, the Amazon actually covers 60 percent of the country's territory. It is a hotbed of bio-activity and is home to 25,000 species of plants -- 10 percent of the world's stock.

Thanks to the Amazon, Peru has the world's second-largest bird population (1,800 species) and is among the top five countries for mammals (515 species) and reptiles (418 species).

This year alone, scientists stumbled upon a previously unknown leech and a new type of mosquito.

The animal population has grown in recent years, namely adding a mini poison dart frog with a fire-red head and blue legs (Ranitomeya amazonica), a purple-throated Sunangel hummingbird (Heliangelus viola) and a "tyrannosaurus leech" with eight teeth (Tyrannobdella reina).

More than 1,200 new species of plants or animals have been discovered in 10 years in the Amazon, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature. But paradoxically, the novel species are often discovered during the very activities that threaten the Amazon the most.

"Most of these discoveries don't happen during scientific expeditions, which are often costly. They most often come when workers are digging exploration sites for oil, mining or lumber companies," said WWF Peru's Amazon program director Michael Valqui.

"This type of discovery is also simultaneously endangering the species that is being discovered in its one and only habitat."

Peru, home to one of the biggest forest lands -- 700,000 square kilometers (270,270 square miles) -- is also a magnet for resource extraction.

The number of concessions granted has doubled since 2006 to cover 16 percent of the territory, according to the Observatory of Mining Conflicts in Latin America.

At the same time, Peru boasts of being on the cutting edge of conservation, with 15 percent of its territory under protected status.

"And we're aiming for 30 percent," said Environment Minister Antonio Brack.

Environmentalists, though, worry about the future of biodiversity and the species living outside these protected zones.

"There are no clear signals as to what the country intends to do to protect biodiversity," said Ivan Lanegra, representative of the influential government-funded Peruvian ombudsman office.

Gerard Herail of France's IRD research and development institute in Lima noted that "a mining or hydrocarbons firm is not innately destructive. The key is whether or not it is 'clean'," or uses cleaner methods and technologies.

More species are disappearing than are being discovered around the world, noted Ernesto Raez, who heads the Sustainable Development Center at Cayetano Heredia University in Lima.

"In other words, species are disappearing before we discover them," he added.

But the IRD says the very context of their disappearance allows the group to "develop biodiversity conservation strategies," such as those deployed successfully for the huge arapaima or paiche fish (Arapaima gigas), one of the largest freshwater fish in the world.

Twenty-one species remain in "critical danger" of extinction in Peru, according to 2004 numbers, including the short-tailed chinchilla (Chinchilla brevicaudata) and the sharp-eared bat (Tompoeas ravus). The leaf-eared mouse (phyllotis andinum) is believed to have already disappeared.

The Lima gecko (Phyllodactylus sentosus), a minuscule nocturnal lizard also in critical danger, illustrates the sometimes complex relationship between threat and conservation.

The gecko finds its habitat in the darkest corners of the huacas, pre-Hispanic burial grounds or ritual sites that dot Lima and the coast.

"But archeologists' maintenance work, crucial for conservation, is exactly what's destroying the gecko's habitat" and triggering its downfall, said Valqui.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g_3zOtgQRjjeXOrm-Ds2PlylB39Q?docId=CNG.081ed8ef951580bf2ea69716935b211d.441

Rare Bird Protected by Groundbreaking Land Deal in Peru

Critically Endangered Iquitos Gnatcatcher given a chance of survival

December 2010. For the first time in Peru, conservationists have purchased privately owned lands within a national protected area and then donated them to the national government. Twenty-nine privately owned properties totalling 1,196 acres within Peru's Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve were donated on December 1 to SERNANP, the government agency that administers national protected areas. The donated lands are home to the Iquitos Gnatcatcher, a Critically Endangered bird first described in 2005.

Near Iquitos
The 143,500-acre Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve is located only 15 miles from the city of Iquitos in northern Peru, protecting rare white-sand forests that are home to rare and unique plants and animals.

"This Reserve is one of the most important places for birds in Peru, supporting a community of 19 bird species, and is the only home for the Critically Endangered Iquitos Gnatcatcher," said Dr. Daniel Lebbin, Conservation Biologist with American Bird Conservancy (ABC), the leading U.S. bird conservation organization and one of the key supporters of the acquisitions.

An end to timber extraxtion & clearance

When the Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve was created, much of the land remained under private ownership. Continued timber extraction, charcoal production, and land clearance for agriculture on privately owned in-holdings within the reserve continue to damage the reserve's forests and reduce habitat for its threatened wildlife. The protected area was first declared as a Reserve Zone in 1999, and elevated to a National Reserve in 2004.

With support from ABC, ConocoPhillips, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), and the Robert W. Wilson Charitable Trust, ProNaturaleza (a leading Peruvian conservation organization) purchased the land from willing sellers in the eastern portion of the Reserve where Iquitos Gnatcatchers live.

More to come
"The donation of this land to SERNANP allows us to better manage it for conservation," said Carlos F. Rivera Gonzales, the head of Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve.

To achieve this success, ProNaturaleza worked in cooperation with a coalition including SERNANP and other environmental groups, such as Friends of Allpahuayo Mishana (ACAAM) and CANATURA (a group conducting environmental education), among others.

"This experience is a clear example of joint work between public and private institutions benefiting the management of the Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve, the pride of Iquitos," said Martin Alcalde, Executive Director of ProNaturaleza, "We hope to build on this success to purchase more in-holdings to later donate to SERNANP if additional funds become available." ACAAM also purchased private property along the reserve's border, which will help protect additional forests.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/iquitos-gnatcatcher.html

Rare Bird Protected by Groundbreaking Land Deal in Peru

Critically Endangered Iquitos Gnatcatcher given a chance of survival

December 2010. For the first time in Peru, conservationists have purchased privately owned lands within a national protected area and then donated them to the national government. Twenty-nine privately owned properties totalling 1,196 acres within Peru's Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve were donated on December 1 to SERNANP, the government agency that administers national protected areas. The donated lands are home to the Iquitos Gnatcatcher, a Critically Endangered bird first described in 2005.

Near Iquitos
The 143,500-acre Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve is located only 15 miles from the city of Iquitos in northern Peru, protecting rare white-sand forests that are home to rare and unique plants and animals.

"This Reserve is one of the most important places for birds in Peru, supporting a community of 19 bird species, and is the only home for the Critically Endangered Iquitos Gnatcatcher," said Dr. Daniel Lebbin, Conservation Biologist with American Bird Conservancy (ABC), the leading U.S. bird conservation organization and one of the key supporters of the acquisitions.

An end to timber extraxtion & clearance

When the Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve was created, much of the land remained under private ownership. Continued timber extraction, charcoal production, and land clearance for agriculture on privately owned in-holdings within the reserve continue to damage the reserve's forests and reduce habitat for its threatened wildlife. The protected area was first declared as a Reserve Zone in 1999, and elevated to a National Reserve in 2004.

With support from ABC, ConocoPhillips, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), and the Robert W. Wilson Charitable Trust, ProNaturaleza (a leading Peruvian conservation organization) purchased the land from willing sellers in the eastern portion of the Reserve where Iquitos Gnatcatchers live.

More to come
"The donation of this land to SERNANP allows us to better manage it for conservation," said Carlos F. Rivera Gonzales, the head of Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve.

To achieve this success, ProNaturaleza worked in cooperation with a coalition including SERNANP and other environmental groups, such as Friends of Allpahuayo Mishana (ACAAM) and CANATURA (a group conducting environmental education), among others.

"This experience is a clear example of joint work between public and private institutions benefiting the management of the Allpahuayo Mishana National Reserve, the pride of Iquitos," said Martin Alcalde, Executive Director of ProNaturaleza, "We hope to build on this success to purchase more in-holdings to later donate to SERNANP if additional funds become available." ACAAM also purchased private property along the reserve's border, which will help protect additional forests.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/iquitos-gnatcatcher.html

Strange 'long-whiskered owl' spotted in Peru

A group of twitchers in Peru have caught a rare glimpse of a bizarre-looking bird not seen for 26 years.


The bird-watchers spotted a long-whiskered owlet, a species first discovered in 1976 that has remained largely out of sight since.

The tiny species, Xenoglaux loweryi, has long bristles around its beak, and delicate feathers that extend into whiskers.

Its formal Latin name actually means "strange owl".

The tour group spotted the owlet in the Abra Patricia Reserve in northern Peru, an area of habitat protected by the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) and its partner conservation organisation in Peru, ECOAN.


The long-whiskered owlet is listed as Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, because of its very limited range of approximately 73 square miles.

The bird's habitat is restricted to cloud forests - moist, tropical forests characterised by frequent low cloud cover.

The area it does inhabit is under threat from deforestation, according to the ABC.

Sara Lara, International Programs Director for the ABC, said: "The long-whiskered owlet is nocturnal, only lives in this area, and exists in very small numbers, [so] the visitors had a once-in-a-lifetime birding experience."

"We are now starting to understand more about its habits and hopefully in the future more people will be able to see this, one of the ultimate birds for any birder."

Strange 'long-whiskered owl' spotted in Peru

A group of twitchers in Peru have caught a rare glimpse of a bizarre-looking bird not seen for 26 years.


The bird-watchers spotted a long-whiskered owlet, a species first discovered in 1976 that has remained largely out of sight since.

The tiny species, Xenoglaux loweryi, has long bristles around its beak, and delicate feathers that extend into whiskers.

Its formal Latin name actually means "strange owl".

The tour group spotted the owlet in the Abra Patricia Reserve in northern Peru, an area of habitat protected by the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) and its partner conservation organisation in Peru, ECOAN.


The long-whiskered owlet is listed as Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, because of its very limited range of approximately 73 square miles.

The bird's habitat is restricted to cloud forests - moist, tropical forests characterised by frequent low cloud cover.

The area it does inhabit is under threat from deforestation, according to the ABC.

Sara Lara, International Programs Director for the ABC, said: "The long-whiskered owlet is nocturnal, only lives in this area, and exists in very small numbers, [so] the visitors had a once-in-a-lifetime birding experience."

"We are now starting to understand more about its habits and hopefully in the future more people will be able to see this, one of the ultimate birds for any birder."

Peru contacts unknown Amazon tribe

Peruvian authorities have presented video footage of a previously uncontacted Amazonian tribe.


The footage was taken in the Kugapakori Nahua Nanti reserve in the country's southeast by members of the government-run National Institute of Development of Andean, Amazonian and Afro-Peruvians (Indepa).

They saw the indigenous group while monitoring area checkpoints that have been installed to prevent entry of unauthorised persons, specifically illegal loggers.

The video - which was presentation at the National Museum and viewed by various government representatives - shows indigenous tribes interacting with Indepa workers.

It also shows a series of rustic huts made from palm leaves and cane that were discovered in August 2009.

Indepa president, Mayta Capac Alatrista, explained how they had been able to gain an insight into their unknown way of life.

"With work that has been done from the five monitoring posts in the Kugapakori Nahua Nanti reserve, we have been able to find and casually meet with voluntarily isolated populations or initiate first contact. We suppose this contact has been made because they went down to the streams in search of food because they are nomads.

"We have photographic record and have even been able to interact with them to see how they go about their daily lives. We have been able to bring them some tools that they have used to hunt, to fish and cook," said Capac Alatrista.

A small exhibition of tools, arrows and handmade pottery, along with skeletons of hunted animals, was also on display.

Peru contacts unknown Amazon tribe

Peruvian authorities have presented video footage of a previously uncontacted Amazonian tribe.


The footage was taken in the Kugapakori Nahua Nanti reserve in the country's southeast by members of the government-run National Institute of Development of Andean, Amazonian and Afro-Peruvians (Indepa).

They saw the indigenous group while monitoring area checkpoints that have been installed to prevent entry of unauthorised persons, specifically illegal loggers.

The video - which was presentation at the National Museum and viewed by various government representatives - shows indigenous tribes interacting with Indepa workers.

It also shows a series of rustic huts made from palm leaves and cane that were discovered in August 2009.

Indepa president, Mayta Capac Alatrista, explained how they had been able to gain an insight into their unknown way of life.

"With work that has been done from the five monitoring posts in the Kugapakori Nahua Nanti reserve, we have been able to find and casually meet with voluntarily isolated populations or initiate first contact. We suppose this contact has been made because they went down to the streams in search of food because they are nomads.

"We have photographic record and have even been able to interact with them to see how they go about their daily lives. We have been able to bring them some tools that they have used to hunt, to fish and cook," said Capac Alatrista.

A small exhibition of tools, arrows and handmade pottery, along with skeletons of hunted animals, was also on display.

Mummies of 15th century dogs discovered in Peru

LIMA — Peruvian archaeologists have discovered six mummified dogs, all dating from the 15th century and apparently presented as religious offerings at a major pre-Columbian site just south of Lima.


The dogs "have hair and complete teeth," said Jesus Holguin, an archaeologist at the museum in Pachacamac, located some 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of Lima.

Holguin told AFP Wednesday that experts were still trying to determine their breed.

The mummified remains of four children were also found at the site, archaeologists said.

The mummified dogs were found two weeks ago wrapped in cloth and buried in one of Pachacamac's adobe brick pyramids.

Archaeologists believe the animals were offerings related to a funeral, "although we do not know if this was related to an important personality of the Inca period," said archaeologist Isabel Cornejo.

The experts believe the dogs are neither Hairless Peruvian Dogs -- an ancient native breed -- nor sheepdogs found at gravesites of the Chiribaya culture, which flourished in southern Peru between the years 900 and 1350.

"Their strong teeth lead us to believe that they are domestic dogs that were used for hunting," added another expert, Enrique Angulo.

Researchers will x-ray the finds in an attempt to determine the breed of the animals and whether the dogs were slaughtered.

Pachacamac museum director Denise Pozzi-Escot said that the find will let researchers broaden their knowledge of ancient Peruvian canines.

The remains are well preserved due to the type of soil and the dry weather along the Peruvian coastline, where it rarely rains.

At its height, Pachacamac was the most important ceremonial center on Peru's central coast, where thousands of pilgrims flocked from afar bringing rich offerings. Human sacrifices took place at the site.

At least three different societies occupied Pachacamac for hundreds before the Incas took it over around 1400. The Incas in turn were defeated by Spanish conquistadors who arrived in 1532.

Mummies of 15th century dogs discovered in Peru

LIMA — Peruvian archaeologists have discovered six mummified dogs, all dating from the 15th century and apparently presented as religious offerings at a major pre-Columbian site just south of Lima.


The dogs "have hair and complete teeth," said Jesus Holguin, an archaeologist at the museum in Pachacamac, located some 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of Lima.

Holguin told AFP Wednesday that experts were still trying to determine their breed.

The mummified remains of four children were also found at the site, archaeologists said.

The mummified dogs were found two weeks ago wrapped in cloth and buried in one of Pachacamac's adobe brick pyramids.

Archaeologists believe the animals were offerings related to a funeral, "although we do not know if this was related to an important personality of the Inca period," said archaeologist Isabel Cornejo.

The experts believe the dogs are neither Hairless Peruvian Dogs -- an ancient native breed -- nor sheepdogs found at gravesites of the Chiribaya culture, which flourished in southern Peru between the years 900 and 1350.

"Their strong teeth lead us to believe that they are domestic dogs that were used for hunting," added another expert, Enrique Angulo.

Researchers will x-ray the finds in an attempt to determine the breed of the animals and whether the dogs were slaughtered.

Pachacamac museum director Denise Pozzi-Escot said that the find will let researchers broaden their knowledge of ancient Peruvian canines.

The remains are well preserved due to the type of soil and the dry weather along the Peruvian coastline, where it rarely rains.

At its height, Pachacamac was the most important ceremonial center on Peru's central coast, where thousands of pilgrims flocked from afar bringing rich offerings. Human sacrifices took place at the site.

At least three different societies occupied Pachacamac for hundreds before the Incas took it over around 1400. The Incas in turn were defeated by Spanish conquistadors who arrived in 1532.

Ancient giant penguin unearthed in Peru

The fossil of a giant penguin that lived 36 million years ago has been discovered in Peru

Scientists say the find shows that key features of the plumage were present quite early on in penguin evolution.

The team told Science magazine that the animal's feathers were brown and grey, distinct from the black "tuxedo" look of modern penguins.

It was about 1.5m (5ft) tall and nearly twice as heavy as an Emperor Penguin, the largest living species.

The bird, named Inkayacu paracasensis, or Water King, waddled the Earth during the late Eocene period.

It had a long, straight beak, much longer than that of its modern relatives.

'Pedro'
The fossil was found in Reserva Nacional de Paracas in Peru. The scientists nicknamed the penguin "Pedro" - after a scaly character in a Colombian TV series.

One of the highlights of the study was the presence of well-preserved feathers and scales.

"Before this fossil, we had no evidence about the feathers, colours and flipper shapes of ancient penguins," said Julia Clarke, a palaeontologist at the University of Texas, US, and lead author of the study.

"We had questions and this was our first chance to start answering them."

She explained to BBC News that the fossil also shows that penguins' main physical features evolved millions of years ago, but the colour of penguin feathers switched from reddish brown and grey to black-and-white quite recently.

Great divers
It is the particular shape of flippers and feathers that makes penguins such powerful swimmers.

During wing-propelled diving - the so-called aquatic flight - these birds are able to generate propulsive forces in an environment about 800 times denser and 70 times more viscous than air.

"One thing that's interesting in living penguins is that how deep they dive correlates with body size," said Dr Clarke.

"The heavier the penguin, the deeper it dives. If that holds true for any penguins, then the dive depths achieved by these giant forms would've been very different."

To get an idea about the colour of the feathers of the long-dead penguin, the team examined melanosomes - microscopic structures in the fossil, whose size, shape and arrangement determine the colour of a bird's feathers.

"Insights into the colours of extinct organisms can reveal clues to their ecology and behaviour," said co-author Jakob Vinther of Yale University, US.

"But most of all, I think it is simply just cool to get a look at the colour of a remarkable extinct organism, such as a giant fossil penguin."

The researchers say that the find, together with some other recent discoveries from the same area, is just another evidence of a rich diversity of giant penguin species in the late Eocene period of low-latitude Peru.

"This is an extraordinary site to preserve evidence of structures like scales and feathers," said Dr Clarke.

"So there's incredible potential for new discoveries that can change our view not only of penguin evolution, but of other marine vertebrates."

By Katia Moskvitch
Science reporter, BBC News

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11420635

See also: Giant Prehistoric Penguin Found, Sported Splashes of Red

Ancient giant penguin unearthed in Peru

The fossil of a giant penguin that lived 36 million years ago has been discovered in Peru

Scientists say the find shows that key features of the plumage were present quite early on in penguin evolution.

The team told Science magazine that the animal's feathers were brown and grey, distinct from the black "tuxedo" look of modern penguins.

It was about 1.5m (5ft) tall and nearly twice as heavy as an Emperor Penguin, the largest living species.

The bird, named Inkayacu paracasensis, or Water King, waddled the Earth during the late Eocene period.

It had a long, straight beak, much longer than that of its modern relatives.

'Pedro'
The fossil was found in Reserva Nacional de Paracas in Peru. The scientists nicknamed the penguin "Pedro" - after a scaly character in a Colombian TV series.

One of the highlights of the study was the presence of well-preserved feathers and scales.

"Before this fossil, we had no evidence about the feathers, colours and flipper shapes of ancient penguins," said Julia Clarke, a palaeontologist at the University of Texas, US, and lead author of the study.

"We had questions and this was our first chance to start answering them."

She explained to BBC News that the fossil also shows that penguins' main physical features evolved millions of years ago, but the colour of penguin feathers switched from reddish brown and grey to black-and-white quite recently.

Great divers
It is the particular shape of flippers and feathers that makes penguins such powerful swimmers.

During wing-propelled diving - the so-called aquatic flight - these birds are able to generate propulsive forces in an environment about 800 times denser and 70 times more viscous than air.

"One thing that's interesting in living penguins is that how deep they dive correlates with body size," said Dr Clarke.

"The heavier the penguin, the deeper it dives. If that holds true for any penguins, then the dive depths achieved by these giant forms would've been very different."

To get an idea about the colour of the feathers of the long-dead penguin, the team examined melanosomes - microscopic structures in the fossil, whose size, shape and arrangement determine the colour of a bird's feathers.

"Insights into the colours of extinct organisms can reveal clues to their ecology and behaviour," said co-author Jakob Vinther of Yale University, US.

"But most of all, I think it is simply just cool to get a look at the colour of a remarkable extinct organism, such as a giant fossil penguin."

The researchers say that the find, together with some other recent discoveries from the same area, is just another evidence of a rich diversity of giant penguin species in the late Eocene period of low-latitude Peru.

"This is an extraordinary site to preserve evidence of structures like scales and feathers," said Dr Clarke.

"So there's incredible potential for new discoveries that can change our view not only of penguin evolution, but of other marine vertebrates."

By Katia Moskvitch
Science reporter, BBC News

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11420635

See also: Giant Prehistoric Penguin Found, Sported Splashes of Red

Scientists find evidence discrediting theory Amazon was virtually unlivable

SAN MARTIN DE SAMIRIA, PERU -- To the untrained eye, all evidence here in the heart of the Amazon signals virgin forest, untouched by man for time immemorial--from the ubiquitous fruit palms to the cry of howler monkeys, from the air thick with mosquitoes to the unruly tangle of jungle vines.


Archaeologists, many of them Americans, say the opposite is true: This patch of forest, and many others across the Amazon, was instead home to an advanced, even spectacular civilization that managed the forest and enriched infertile soil to feed thousands.

The findings are discrediting a once-bedrock theory of archaeology that long held that the Amazon, unlike much of the Americas, was a historical black hole, its environment too hostile and its earth too poor to have ever sustained big, sedentary societies.

from the Washington Post
http://ow.ly/2BFdW

Scientists find evidence discrediting theory Amazon was virtually unlivable

SAN MARTIN DE SAMIRIA, PERU -- To the untrained eye, all evidence here in the heart of the Amazon signals virgin forest, untouched by man for time immemorial--from the ubiquitous fruit palms to the cry of howler monkeys, from the air thick with mosquitoes to the unruly tangle of jungle vines.


Archaeologists, many of them Americans, say the opposite is true: This patch of forest, and many others across the Amazon, was instead home to an advanced, even spectacular civilization that managed the forest and enriched infertile soil to feed thousands.

The findings are discrediting a once-bedrock theory of archaeology that long held that the Amazon, unlike much of the Americas, was a historical black hole, its environment too hostile and its earth too poor to have ever sustained big, sedentary societies.

from the Washington Post
http://ow.ly/2BFdW

TYRANT LEECH KING

The Tyrannobdella rex, or 'tyrant leech king' in Latin, was discovered in the nose of a Peruvian child by physician Physician Renzo Arauco-Brown. The girl's parents had sought help after the child – who is thought to have regularly swam in Peru's tropical rivers and lakes – complained of feeling a sliding sensation in her nose.

Scientists have classified the 2-inch creature as a new species and believe it may have infested the noses of other animals, possibly including dinosaurs. “Some ancestor of our T. rex may have been up that other T. Rex's nose,” said Mark Siddall, one of the from the American Museum of Natural History in New York researchers who anaylysed the creature.

The animal, which was described in the research journal PLoS One, only has one jaw, with teeth about the width of a human hair.

"It uses [its jaw] like a saw. It doesn't need a huge wound because it has incredible suction power," Mr Siddall said. “We named it Tyrannobdella rex because of its enormous teeth," he added.

"Besides, the earliest species in this family of these leeches no doubt shared an environment with dinosaurs about 200 million years ago. "The new T. rex joins four other species that use this abbreviated name, including two Miocene fossils [a snail and a scarab beetle], a living Malaysian formicid ant, and, of course, the infamous Cretaceous theropod dinosaur that was described in 1905 by an earlier curator of the American Museum of Natural History."